Helix syntax highlighting doesn't work

[LEGOL2]

Summary

I cloned the repo and built it using instructions from documentation. I fetched and built grammars, installed clangd and rust-analyzer, but I can't get syntax highlighting to work.

hx --health output

Config file: /home/sluzynsk/.config/helix/config.toml
Language file: default
Log file: /home/sluzynsk/.cache/helix/helix.log
Runtime directories: /home/sluzynsk/.config/helix/runtime;/home/sluzynsk/.cargo/bin/runtime
Runtime directory does not exist: /home/sluzynsk/.cargo/bin/runtime
Clipboard provider: termcode
System clipboard provider: termcode

Language                                            LSP                                                 DAP                                                 Highlight                                           Textobject                                          Indent
c                                                   ✓ clangd                                            ✘ lldb-vscode                                       ✘                                                   ✘                                                   ✘
rust                                                ✓ rust-analyzer                                     ✘ lldb-vscode                                       ✘                                                   ✘                                                   ✘

ls ~/.config/helix/runtime/grammars/

astro.so*      c.so*        d.so*           eex.so*                fortran.so*        gleam.so*               haskell.so*  javascript.so*  kotlin.so*    markdown.so*         nu.so*               pem.so*       purescript.so*  ruby.so*      sources/             task.so*        unison.so*   wat.so*
awk.so*        capnp.so*    dart.so*        elixir.so*             fsharp.so*         glsl.so*                hcl.so*      jinja2.so*      latex.so*     markdown_inline.so*  ocaml-interface.so*  perl.so*      python.so*      rust.so*      sql.so*              templ.so*       uxntal.so*   wgsl.so*
bash.so*       clojure.so*  devicetree.so*  elm.so*                gas.so*            go.so*                  heex.so*     jsdoc.so*       lean.so*      matlab.so*           ocaml.so*            php.so*       qmljs.so*       scala.so*     sshclientconfig.so*  todotxt.so*     v.so*        wit.so*
bass.so*       cmake.so*    dhall.so*       elvish.so*             gdscript.so*       godot-resource.so*      hosts.so*    json.so*        ledger.so*    mermaid.so*          odin.so*             po.so*        r.so*           scheme.so*    strace.so*           toml.so*        vala.so*     xit.so*
beancount.so*  comment.so*  diff.so*        embedded-template.so*  git-commit.so*     gomod.so*               html.so*     json5.so*       llvm-mir.so*  meson.so*            opencl.so*           pod.so*       regex.so*       scss.so*      svelte.so*           tsq.so*         verilog.so*  xml.so*
bibtex.so*     cpon.so*     dockerfile.so*  erlang.so*             git-config.so*     gotmpl.so*              hurl.so*     jsonnet.so*     llvm.so*      nasm.so*             openscad.so*         ponylang.so*  rego.so*        slint.so*     sway.so*             tsx.so*         vhdl.so*     yaml.so*
bicep.so*      cpp.so*      dot.so*         esdl.so*               git-rebase.so*     gowork.so*              iex.so*      julia.so*       lua.so*       nickel.so*           org.so*              prisma.so*    rescript.so*    smithy.so*    swift.so*            twig.so*        vhs.so*      yuck.so*
blueprint.so*  css.so*      dtd.so*         fish.so*               gitattributes.so*  graphql.so*             ini.so*      just.so*        make.so*      nim.so*              pascal.so*           protobuf.so*  robot.so*       sml.so*       t32.so*              typescript.so*  vue.so*      zig.so*
c-sharp.so*    cue.so*      edoc.so*        forth.so*              gitignore.so*      haskell-persistent.so*  java.so*     kdl.so*         markdoc.so*   nix.so*              passwd.so*           prql.so*      rst.so*         solidity.so*  tablegen.so*         ungrammar.so*   wast.so*

Reproduction Steps

Build steps:

1. clone fresh repo
2. checkout to tags/23.10
3. add use-grammars = { except = [ "hare", "wren", "gemini" ] } to languages.toml
4. cargo install --path helix-term --locked
5. hx -g fetch
6. hx -g build

I expected this to happen:
hx repro.cpp should open editor and show basic syntax highlighting for c++ file.

Instead, this happened:

Helix log

~/.cache/helix/helix.log

2024-03-28T13:25:45.765 helix_view::clipboard::provider [DEBUG] No native clipboard provider found. Yanking by OSC 52 and pasting will be internal to Helix
2024-03-28T13:25:45.766 helix_vcs [INFO] Error {
    context: "failed to open git repo",
    source: Discover(
        NoGitRepository {
            path: "/home/sluzynsk/sandbox",
        },
    ),
}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.766 helix_vcs [INFO] failed to open diff base for /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp
2024-03-28T13:25:45.766 helix_vcs [INFO] Error {
    context: "failed to open git repo",
    source: Discover(
        NoGitRepository {
            path: "/home/sluzynsk/sandbox",
        },
    ),
}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.766 helix_vcs [INFO] failed to obtain current head name for /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp
2024-03-28T13:25:45.767 helix_view::editor [DEBUG] editor status: Loaded 1 file.
2024-03-28T13:25:45.768 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd -> {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"initialize","params":{"capabilities":{"general":{"positionEncodings":["utf-8","utf-32","utf-16"]},"textDocument":{"codeAction":{"codeActionLiteralSupport":{"codeActionKind":{"valueSet":["","quickfix","refactor","refactor.extract","refactor.inline","refactor.rewrite","source","source.organizeImports"]}},"dataSupport":true,"disabledSupport":true,"isPreferredSupport":true,"resolveSupport":{"properties":["edit","command"]}},"completion":{"completionItem":{"deprecatedSupport":true,"insertReplaceSupport":true,"resolveSupport":{"properties":["documentation","detail","additionalTextEdits"]},"snippetSupport":true,"tagSupport":{"valueSet":[1]}},"completionItemKind":{}},"hover":{"contentFormat":["markdown"]},"inlayHint":{"dynamicRegistration":false},"publishDiagnostics":{"versionSupport":true},"rename":{"dynamicRegistration":false,"honorsChangeAnnotations":false,"prepareSupport":true},"signatureHelp":{"signatureInformation":{"activeParameterSupport":true,"documentationFormat":["markdown"],"parameterInformation":{"labelOffsetSupport":true}}}},"window":{"workDoneProgress":true},"workspace":{"applyEdit":true,"configuration":true,"didChangeConfiguration":{"dynamicRegistration":false},"didChangeWatchedFiles":{"dynamicRegistration":true,"relativePatternSupport":false},"executeCommand":{"dynamicRegistration":false},"inlayHint":{"refreshSupport":false},"symbol":{"dynamicRegistration":false},"workspaceEdit":{"documentChanges":true,"failureHandling":"abort","normalizesLineEndings":false,"resourceOperations":["create","rename","delete"]},"workspaceFolders":true}},"clientInfo":{"name":"helix","version":"23.10 (f6021dd0)"},"processId":693181,"rootPath":"/home/sluzynsk/sandbox","rootUri":null,"workspaceFolders":[]},"id":0}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.792] clangd version 17.0.3 (https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project 888437e1b60011b8a375dd30928ec925b448da57)\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.793] Features: linux+grpc\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.793] PID: 693214\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.793] Working directory: /home/sluzynsk/sandbox\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.793] argv[0]: /home/sluzynsk/opt/clangd/bin/clangd\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.793] Starting LSP over stdin/stdout\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.793 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.793] <-- initialize(0)\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.796 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.795] --> reply:initialize(0) 2 ms\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.796 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd <- {"id":0,"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":{"capabilities":{"astProvider":true,"callHierarchyProvider":true,"clangdInlayHintsProvider":true,"codeActionProvider":{"codeActionKinds":["quickfix","refactor","info"]},"compilationDatabase":{"automaticReload":true},"completionProvider":{"resolveProvider":false,"triggerCharacters":[".","<",">",":","\"","/","*"]},"declarationProvider":true,"definitionProvider":true,"documentFormattingProvider":true,"documentHighlightProvider":true,"documentLinkProvider":{"resolveProvider":false},"documentOnTypeFormattingProvider":{"firstTriggerCharacter":"\n","moreTriggerCharacter":[]},"documentRangeFormattingProvider":true,"documentSymbolProvider":true,"executeCommandProvider":{"commands":["clangd.applyFix","clangd.applyTweak"]},"foldingRangeProvider":true,"hoverProvider":true,"implementationProvider":true,"inactiveRegionsProvider":true,"inlayHintProvider":true,"memoryUsageProvider":true,"referencesProvider":true,"renameProvider":{"prepareProvider":true},"selectionRangeProvider":true,"semanticTokensProvider":{"full":{"delta":true},"legend":{"tokenModifiers":["declaration","definition","deprecated","deduced","readonly","static","abstract","virtual","dependentName","defaultLibrary","usedAsMutableReference","usedAsMutablePointer","constructorOrDestructor","userDefined","functionScope","classScope","fileScope","globalScope"],"tokenTypes":["variable","variable","parameter","function","method","function","property","variable","class","interface","enum","enumMember","type","type","unknown","namespace","typeParameter","concept","type","macro","modifier","operator","bracket","label","comment"]},"range":false},"signatureHelpProvider":{"triggerCharacters":["(",")","{","}","<",">",","]},"standardTypeHierarchyProvider":true,"textDocumentSync":{"change":2,"openClose":true,"save":true},"typeDefinitionProvider":true,"typeHierarchyProvider":true,"workspaceSymbolProvider":true},"serverInfo":{"name":"clangd","version":"clangd version 17.0.3 (https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project 888437e1b60011b8a375dd30928ec925b448da57) linux+grpc x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"}}}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.796 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd <- {"capabilities":{"astProvider":true,"callHierarchyProvider":true,"clangdInlayHintsProvider":true,"codeActionProvider":{"codeActionKinds":["quickfix","refactor","info"]},"compilationDatabase":{"automaticReload":true},"completionProvider":{"resolveProvider":false,"triggerCharacters":[".","<",">",":","\"","/","*"]},"declarationProvider":true,"definitionProvider":true,"documentFormattingProvider":true,"documentHighlightProvider":true,"documentLinkProvider":{"resolveProvider":false},"documentOnTypeFormattingProvider":{"firstTriggerCharacter":"\n","moreTriggerCharacter":[]},"documentRangeFormattingProvider":true,"documentSymbolProvider":true,"executeCommandProvider":{"commands":["clangd.applyFix","clangd.applyTweak"]},"foldingRangeProvider":true,"hoverProvider":true,"implementationProvider":true,"inactiveRegionsProvider":true,"inlayHintProvider":true,"memoryUsageProvider":true,"referencesProvider":true,"renameProvider":{"prepareProvider":true},"selectionRangeProvider":true,"semanticTokensProvider":{"full":{"delta":true},"legend":{"tokenModifiers":["declaration","definition","deprecated","deduced","readonly","static","abstract","virtual","dependentName","defaultLibrary","usedAsMutableReference","usedAsMutablePointer","constructorOrDestructor","userDefined","functionScope","classScope","fileScope","globalScope"],"tokenTypes":["variable","variable","parameter","function","method","function","property","variable","class","interface","enum","enumMember","type","type","unknown","namespace","typeParameter","concept","type","macro","modifier","operator","bracket","label","comment"]},"range":false},"signatureHelpProvider":{"triggerCharacters":["(",")","{","}","<",">",","]},"standardTypeHierarchyProvider":true,"textDocumentSync":{"change":2,"openClose":true,"save":true},"typeDefinitionProvider":true,"typeHierarchyProvider":true,"workspaceSymbolProvider":true},"serverInfo":{"name":"clangd","version":"clangd version 17.0.3 (https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project 888437e1b60011b8a375dd30928ec925b448da57) linux+grpc x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"}}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.796 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd -> {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"initialized","params":{}}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.796 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.796] <-- initialized\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.976 helix_tui::backend::crossterm [DEBUG] The keyboard enhancement protocol is not supported in this terminal (checked in 208.049972ms)
2024-03-28T13:25:45.976 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:45.983 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:45.984 helix_term::application [DEBUG] received editor event: LanguageServerMessage((0, Notification(Notification { jsonrpc: None, method: "initialized", params: None })))
2024-03-28T13:25:45.984 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd -> {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"textDocument/didOpen","params":{"textDocument":{"languageId":"cpp","text":"void cool_func(int arg) {}\n\nint main() {\n  void* (*func_ptr)() = reinterpret_cast<void* (*)()>(cool_func);\n}\n","uri":"file:///home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp","version":0}}}
2024-03-28T13:25:45.985 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.984] <-- textDocument/didOpen\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.986 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.986] Failed to find compilation database for /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.986 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:45.986] ASTWorker building file /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp version 0 with command clangd fallback\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.986 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "[/home/sluzynsk/sandbox]\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:45.986 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "/usr/bin/clang -resource-dir=/home/sluzynsk/opt/clangd/lib/clang/17 -- /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:46.003 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:46.003] Built preamble of size 220284 for file /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp version 0 in 0.01 seconds\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:46.009 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:46.009] Indexing c++17 standard library in the context of /home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:46.014 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd <- {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"textDocument/publishDiagnostics","params":{"diagnostics":[],"uri":"file:///home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp","version":0}}
2024-03-28T13:25:46.014 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:46.014] --> textDocument/publishDiagnostics\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:46.014 helix_term::application [DEBUG] received editor event: LanguageServerMessage((0, Notification(Notification { jsonrpc: Some(V2), method: "textDocument/publishDiagnostics", params: Map({"diagnostics": Array [], "uri": String("file:///home/sluzynsk/sandbox/repro.cpp"), "version": Number(0)}) })))
2024-03-28T13:25:46.017 helix_term::application [DEBUG] received editor event: IdleTimer
2024-03-28T13:25:46.018 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:47.043 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:47.266 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:47.266] Indexed c++17 standard library (incomplete due to errors): 13549 symbols, 1100 filtered\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:47.294 helix_term::application [DEBUG] received editor event: IdleTimer
2024-03-28T13:25:47.818 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:48.373 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:48.562 helix_term::commands::typed [DEBUG] quitting...
2024-03-28T13:25:48.562 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_term::commands::typed [DEBUG] quitting...
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_view::document [DEBUG] id 1 modified - last saved: 0, current: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_term::job [DEBUG] waiting on jobs...
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_term::job [DEBUG] waiting on jobs...
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_lsp::file_event [DEBUG] Removing LSP client: 0
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd -> {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"shutdown","id":1}
2024-03-28T13:25:48.838 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:48.838] <-- shutdown(1)\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:48.839 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:48.838] --> reply:shutdown(1) 0 ms\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:48.839 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd <- {"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":null}
2024-03-28T13:25:48.839 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd <- null
2024-03-28T13:25:48.839 helix_lsp::transport [INFO] clangd -> {"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"exit"}
2024-03-28T13:25:48.839 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:48.839] <-- exit\n"
2024-03-28T13:25:48.839 helix_lsp::transport [ERROR] clangd err <- "I[13:25:48.839] LSP finished, exiting with status 0\n"

Platform

Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS

Terminal Emulator

Tabby 1.0.205, same behavior with git-bash (connected to a machine via ssh)

Installation Method

built from source

Helix Version

23.10

[the-mikedavis]

You need to setup the runtime directory when building from source https://docs.helix-editor.com/master/install.html#configuring-helixs-runtime-files

[LEGOL2]

You can clearly see from log that hx has path to runtime set
Runtime directories: /home/sluzynsk/.config/helix/runtime;/home/sluzynsk/.cargo/bin/runtime

[LEGOL2]

Fixed by manually copying contents of helix/runtime from repo catalog to ~/.config/helix/runtime.

[yanniskatsaros]

I faced a similar issue when upgrading to the latest Helix version. My Helix installation is managed by brew on MacOS. What solved the issue for me was:

• hx -g fetch
• hx -g build
• restart any open Helix sessions